Coach Stefan Kuntz made two changes to the side that beat Romania 4-2 in the semi-finals. Florian Neuhaus was replaced by Suat Serdar in holding midfield and the former Leverkusen defender Benni Henrichs returned to the left back slot after a one-match ban. Maximilian Mittelstädt dropped down to the bench.
Germany appeared to show great respect at the start to Spain who lost 1-0 in the 2017 final thanks to a goal from Mitchell Weiser. Germany were much too passive allowing Spain to control proceedings by dominating possession. And the team coached by Luis de la Fuente made full use of their first chance on goal. Fabian burst through the centre of the German defence and fired in a shot from 25 yards for the opener.
The Kuntz eleven were more adventurous after the set-back but there were no clear-cut chances before the break. Goalkeeper Antonio Sivera was only tested once. However, a deflected shot from the former Werkself pro Levin Öztunali was no problem for Spain's number one.
The second half continued in the same vein with Germany on the front foot from the start. Nadiem Amiri had a good chance to level after good work in the build-up from Henrichs but the keeper Sivera was on his toes. And the second goal for Spain came on 69 minutes – Alexander Nübel was unable to hold on to a long-range effort from Fabian and Dani Olmo was left with a simple tap-in. Fabian missed on 75 minutes and Soler hit the bar (81') in the search for the third goal.
As Luca Waldschmidt failed to convert chances in the box on 74 and 83 minutes, the goal scored by Amiri to make it 2-1 on 88 minutes was a mere consolation when he beat the Spain keeper with a deflected shot from distance. The match ended for the team led by the skipper Jonathan Tah, who went the full distance, as the U21 Euros runners-up. Reaching the semi-finals in the tournament does mean Germany qualify for the 2020 Olympics football tournament in Tokyo.
Jonathan Tah was very disappointed after the game: "We were unsettled after conceding the early goal. The second half was better. And we gave our all right to the end. We can take a lot of positives from the tournament."
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
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It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
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